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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

How the world can assist Japan
By RAJIB SHAW KYODO
Japan is known not only for its experience with devastating disasters, butalso for innovations in disaster risk reduction. Back in 1990, when the United
Nations started its first International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction(1990-1999), Japan was one of the strongest supporters.
In 1994, Japan hosted the first World
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lessons were widely utilized in other countries.
In the year following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Japan hosted thesecond World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which coincided with the10th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake. This was the year when the Hyogo
Framework for Action (HFA) was adopted by United Nations member states
as the basic agreed outline for disaster risk-reduction activities. This isconsidered the most important recent policy contribution from Japan to theworld in disaster studies.
Now that Japan is trying to cope with the devastating earthquake, tsunami
and radiation leakage, the question is whether Japan can manage thisdisaster by itself or needs external support. There are several discussions
and online forums that argue that Japan is a developed country that has its
own resources to support the recovery process. I don't agree with thisargument. I call it a misconception that has arisen from a lack of appropriate
information. The recovery does not depend on financial resources only. Itneeds intellectual resources, plans, policies, strategies and innovativesolutions. No country is independent and self-reliant when it comes to itsresources. Japan is no exception.
The 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India also initially threatened the recovery
process due to the scale of the destruction it caused. The total length of thedevastated area was more than 600 km.
Unlike tsunami damage, which is mostly concentrated in coastal areas (morehttp://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20110330a3.html[3/31/2011 9:43:39 AM]

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2 minutes ago · reply"People may start to think it's better to disperse
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How the world can assist Japan | The Japan Times Online

specifically, in a zone within 2 to 3 km of the coast), the damage caused by
the Gujarat earthquake was spread over a vast area.
The key lesson from the Gujarat earthquake is the necessity for coordinationand proper management from the initial post-disaster phase. The
coordination should not be limited to government departments. It needs toinclude nongovernmental (NGOs) organizations and other relief-basedorganizations. At the prefectural level, a coordination center needs to be setup, which should be a "one-stop shop" for information. This coordination
center should be connected horizontally with all relevant departments, as wellas vertically with the national and local governments. One-point coordination
is of key importance to avoid confusion and mismanagement. A sector-based
approach is preferable where different sectors such as shelter, health,education and livelihoods will be handled separately, but under the same
coordination unit.
In the current disaster, 54 out of the 174 coastal towns and local
governments on the east coast of Japan were affected by the tsunami. A
more severe impact was seen in the case of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in SriLanka, where 73 percent of coastal areas were affected.
Sri Lanka started a village adoption policy, where different organizations wereresponsible for the total recovery of a designated town or local government. A
similar approach was also undertaken in Tamil Nadu state in India after the2004 tsunami. The same village adoption principle can be applied to thecurrent case in Japan, where governments of prefectures that have not been
affected and/or NGOs can adopt a specific village or town to oversee its
holistic recovery. This prefectural government or NGO would be responsiblefor coordination and collaboration with other entities.
The arrival time and height of the tsunami in the March 11 disaster raised
serious issues with regard to hazard mapping and designated evacuation
centers in the coastal areas. Thinking of the aged and vulnerable populations
concentrated in the small and medium-size cities and rural towns in Japan,
there is a strong need for a "one village, one shelter policy" to be
implemented rigorously in different parts of Japan, both as a recovery
measure and for long-term preparedness. Bangladesh has been a modelcase for a coastal early warning system with shelters, volunteers andnetworking. A similar system is required in Japan, both in terms of short-,
medium- and long-term recovery.
There are several other emerging issues that need attention in the comingdays. Environmental issues, contamination of soil and water and the impact
on the food chain are some of the crucial ones. After Hurricane Katrina in theUnited States, the New Orleans government and Environmental Protection
Agency conducted a detailed environmental assessment and found serious
issues with regard to industrial waste, debris management and raw sewage,among others. These lessons will be very useful to Japan in the current
context.
Finally, unlike past disasters in Japan, the Tohoku earthquake has produced
more than 250,000 evacuees who need to be relocated outside theirhometown or even outside their prefectures. The strong communities thatexisted in these rural areas are on the verge of collapse, posing a serious
problem in terms of human relationships, networking and information flow.
The key is how to keep these communities together. Sri Lanka has
demonstrated some excellent examples of sustainable post-tsunami humanresettlement, which will need to be reflected in Japan too. Different innovative
approaches and lessons were found through single-village relocation or
multiple-village relocation (several villages coming together as the samevillage in a new location), and this needs strategic planning from the inception
phase.
With all these examples and justifications, Japan needs urgent assistance indifferent sectors, from volunteer management, to health risk reduction, toprevention of environmental degradation, mass relocation, shelter
management, strategic planning and policy direction, to name but some.
Japan is known for its reserved nature, dignity and modesty. Japan has been
generous to support several countries in different disaster situations, mostly

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20110330a3.html[3/31/2011 9:43:39 AM]

12 minutes ago · reply"I'm not confused, I'm just scared. You can't seeradiation." http://ow.ly/4pMjq
47 minutes ago · reply"It is important to minimize the confusion as weenter the new fiscal year" http://ow.ly/4pMe7
about 1 hour ago · reply

Join the conversation

PollMost read stories

Editors' picks

A piece of your mind

The view from here
Much as been written recently about the gap
between overseas media and local media when it
comes to coverage of the aftermath of March 11
earthquake and tsunami. What's your take on
this?
Japanese media outlets need to be moreaggressive.
Sensationalist journalism hasn'taffected me.
The government needs to open morecommunication channels.
Foreign journalists should act more
responsibly.
Social media is doing a good job offiltering.
Wasn't aware of the gap.

Total Votes : 5252
View past polls

How the world can assist Japan | The Japan Times Online

without drawing attention to itself.
It is now time to reciprocate that support and to assist Japan in its time ofcrisis with nonmonetary resources.
Rajib Shaw is an associate professor in the laboratory of International
Environment and Disaster Management at Kyoto University's Graduate
School of Global Environmental Studies.
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